Only part of the head of a cross survives, this the three upper arms carved from greyish-pink sandstone. The earliest known record of the cross is when it was found in the foundations of the house at Appotsyde, about a mile from Hobkirk church. ‘Margaret Trumbill Lady Apotesyde’ is mentioned in possession of the house in 1606 in a dispute. The house was sometime later destroyed and the crosshead taken to Harwood Mill (some distance east of the house) and built into a wall of the byre on the farm there. Later still, it was taken to Harwood House, where it remains. The present house there, which replaced an earlier one, was built in 1835 and has 20thc additions. For many years the cross head was kept outside the door to this house, but sometime between 2002, when Harwood House was sold, and the end of 2017, the cross was reused on the apex of one of the gables of the house; this was carried out when a new roof was installed. Curle (1904) suggested that the cross may originally have been part of a wayside cross and suggested a 12thc date.

According to what is known about the background of the cross, it seems always to have been in the parish of Hobkirk.

A number of comparisons with crossheads in the north dating from the late-11th and 12th centuries can be made. One found at the Hirsel, also in the Scottish Borders, is quite similar, though the central circular disc on that at Harwood is somewhat larger. In the printed discussion of the Hirsel cross, it was noted that the piercing of the areas between the inner disc and outer ring is unusual for this type of cross. The cross at Harwood has the same kind of piercing, which makes the similarity with the Hirsel cross of greater interest. A suggested date of 11th-12thc has been given for the Hirsel cross. This supports the view of Curle that the Harwood cross is likely to be 12thc, a dating with which this fieldworker agrees.